Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister (1945-2015)

I first recall meeting Lemmy at about 3am when I answered a rather insistent knock on the door of the flat I shared with Wilko. My room was nearest to the front door and Wilko wasn’t in. He said he was a friend and could he just sit down for a while. He said he would let himself out. It was obvious the guy was totally wired.
Over the next few years our paths crossed and he would always have an envious dig about us doing TOTP.
We arranged a cricket match against the press one day and he was supposed to play. He turned up with a doctor’s note. He had a verruca.
A few years back I bumped into him backstage at Guilfest surrounded by one armed bandits and I said it didn’t look quite right that his beard and hair were all jet black but he replied that’s what was expected of him.
Last summer we had the pleasure of playing with Motörhead at the Eden project. After we came off he came over to me and graciously said that they should have been supporting us!
I thought then that I didn’t think he wasn’t long for this world. His look was distant, the life force was dimmed.

He was always gracious to me. A class act. A huge presence in the pantheon of rock.